Around the world there are many beautiful and magical locations to paddle and explore. But unfortunately there are also many places that are becoming un-paddleable. Charlie Head is a man always on the look out for the next adventure on his SUP. After paddling around England & Wales and taking on the mighty Amazon with help from Red Bull TV, Charlie is soon off on another quest. This time, not only to raise awareness of our changing world, but also to capture something special before it’s gone. One area that is about to change forever is the Blue Nile River, due to the near completion of a huge dam upstream. Charlie and team plan to not only paddle this river for the last time, but also capture the magic and beauty of the river by filming a documentary along the way. But these epic films don’t just happen… they need support and funding. Back ‘The last Descent’ here.

Charlie paddling the Amazon

About Charlie Head
For us at SUPboarder Charlie Head is a true adventurer. Every chance he has, he is on the water exploring around the next corner, or planning for that next unique adventure. His go for it attitude is contagious and his softly spoken voice is certainly made for tv! We’ve followed Charlie’s adventures on many occasions and have got to know him well. He’s normally a do first and talk later kind of guy. But the time restraints of this trip has him doing the exact opposite. When possible Charlie likes to fund his own trips and expeditions. But this trip involves more than just him, as Charlie explains…

Below is summary of the trip from ‘The Last Descent’ website.
This is a documentary about a team of explorers making the last ever decent of the Blue Nile River. We have a very imminent timeline due to the construction of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. This profound reality means it’s the last chance for us and for anyone, to descend this iconic river, we want to honor this river and tell her story, before it’s gone forever.

Due to this unchangeable time scale we have to be realistic on the funding we can rise to get this project done.

The money we are trying to raise here is the bear minimum cost to just survive the 35 days in Ethiopia. Please see funding breakdown below.

Not long ago, our team made the first and the last descent from the primary source of the Amazon, the river Maranon We heard it was being damned, and we teamed up with our wing man Rocky on a campaign to protect the river, and spread the word. Now we intend to paddle board through the grand canyon of the Nile with a similar dream and vision of adventure to let the world know what is to be lost in the coming years and to motivate people to do something to help protect the remaining canyon. We invite you to help us make the grand canyon of the blue Nile of Africa more well known and we hope you will enjoy experiencing it through the film and posts that will follow the first ever stand up paddle boarding trip through the blue Nile.

Sadly, for this trip on the Nile, we may not have the same opportunity, but we sure as hell want to show the world what were saying goodbye to, and showcase it’s history and beauty. The Nile is one of the most well known and enigmatic rivers in the world, The Blue Nile emerges from Lake Tana in Ethiopia, the Blue Nile is the main stem source if the Nile. Downstream in the underpopulated origin of the Nile the native wildlife is abundant and in particular dangerous Nile crocodiles lurk in the waters.

Unfortunately soon it will not be possible to paddle through the entire grand canyon of Africa anymore because one of the largest damns in Africa the ‘Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’ should have already been completed and started flooding by July 2017 but the building has been delayed so that adventurous spirits can paddle the river ion its free flowing state, so this is literally the last chance to capture the essence of this river before it’s lost forever. When it has been completed it will flood 230 km of the river, including the lower part of the grand canyon section.

We have assembled a very special team to make this possible and have come together for our passion of education and love for our planet. The funds that we raise will conclude the investment we need to make this production happen in time!

Fortunately we have already sourced the bulk of the investment ourselves, but unfortunately not enough in time before the imminent dam construction. So this is why we need your help as we can get to raise these last funds to make this production possible.

A massive part of your contribution and your support for this trip is going to help towards supporting the education surrounding this project , by raising awareness and support for the importance of the protection of these endangered environments. Your investment is so important to us because you are helping us to capture some of the last memories of the most extraordinary rivers of the world.